Veteran sports writer Jim Utter covers NASCAR for The Charlotte Observer and its racing site, ThatsRacin.com. In this space, Jim writes about all things NASCAR and other forms of racing which may also be relevant ... or not.

Friday, December 9, 2011

This year's championship-winning crew chief in the Sprint Cup Series will try to win one next season with the 2010 season runner-up.

Joe Gibbs Racing will name Darian Grubb - who won this season's championship with driver Tony Stewart - as the new crew chief for Denny Hamlin on Friday afternoon, sources confirmed to The Observer and ThatsRacin.com.

Grubb, who was told early during the Chase for the Cup that he would not return as Stewart's crew chief next season, had been mulling several offers before deciding to join Joe Gibbs Racing. JGR released Hamlin's crew chief, Mike Ford, earlier this week.

In three seasons together at Stewart-Haas Racing, Grubb and Stewart won 11 races, including five in this season's Chase.

Hamlin finished second in the 2010 Chase, falling 39 points short of Jimmie Johnson, who won his NASCAR-record fifth consecutive title.